A nightmare in the storm
by burtonfan422
Summary: (An AU story where the sister's ages are flipped but Lincoln is still 11 and the middle child.) Five-year-old Luna wakes up from a nightmare during a thunderstorm. Who's the first person she's going to go to for comfort?


Five-year-old Luna woke up from a terrible nightmare where she was nearly eaten by a shark. She breathed heavily, gently placing hand on her head to make sure she was still alive. Outside her bedroom window she could hear a thunderstorm. That didn't exactly help to make her feel easy.

She looked to her right and saw a panda plushy that had had red markings around its eyes that made it resemble one of the band members from SMOOCH. She grabbed the panda and held it right against her chest. Her big brother Lincoln had given her that panda as a birthday gift nearly three years before. That thought suddenly gave her an idea.

Still holding the panda, she quietly made her way down from the top bunk she slept in. She didn't want to want to wake up her sister Luan, her roommate. But she did afford herself a glance at the six-year-old. She was sleeping ever so peacefully with her rabbit Gary and the family hamster Geno curled up together on her stomach.

Reaching the carpeted floor, Luna silently headed out of her room, with each sound of thunder she gripped her panda ever tighter against her chest until she came to Lincoln's room. She opened the door and walked over to his bed. She saw her older brother sleeping with his stuffed bunny, Bun-Bun tucked under his arm. Eleven years old and still finding solace in a stuffed animal. Some things never change. Luna grabbed the arm closest to her and shook her brother.

"Linky, please wake up," she begged. The eleven-year-old suddenly found himself wide awake and looking to his right he saw the reason his slumber was disturbed.

"Luna?" he asked groggily.

"I had a really bad dream; can I stay with you?" she asked. Lincoln looked at his five-year-old sister. She was tough, for a five-year-old. But he looked into her eyes, and saw the eyes of a frightened little girl who needed her big brother. He remembered how when she was born, she had formed a very special bond with him and Lily, the oldest sibling. That was why their parents had made the two of them Luna's guardians. This was one of those moments where he needed to be Luna's guardian.

"Alright, you can spend the night with me," he said, moving so Luna could get in. She tucked herself under Lincoln's covers, keeping one arm on her panda. Lincoln looked at the SMOOCH panda that he had given her, and suddenly had an idea.

"Hey look at this Bun-Bun, we've got company," he told his rabbit, and made Bun-Bun wave at Luna and the panda. Luna smiled and made the panda return the gesture. She looked up at her brother.

"It was a really bad dream. I dreamt we were all at the beach and a group of sharks were closing in on me. One of them nearly ate me," she said.

"Well don't worry, as long as I'm here, I won't let anything hurt you, that's my job as your brother, and your guardian," Lincoln replied kindly as he put an arm around his little sister, just to let her know that he was going to be right there, to protect her.

"Will you sing for me?" she asked.

"I could try, but let's face it, between the two of us, you're the better singer. Mom and Dad got you that little guitar for Christmas, and you've been strumming on it regularly, and singing all your favorite songs," he answered.

"Lily's been teaching me how to sing," replied Luna.

"I bet she has, she's also enjoyed singing lullabies to all of us. When you started singing at the age of two, she was overjoyed to have a fellow musician in the family. Dad's cowbell never caught on with her," said Lincoln. He often found telling stories to his younger siblings made them feel better when they were scared. Suddenly, an extremely loud bolt of lightning could be heard right outside Lincoln's bedroom window, and the two of them heard a rapid fluttering of feet and into Lincoln's room rushed four-year-old Leni wearing her light green pajamas with cats on them. She jumped onto Lincoln's bed making her older siblings laugh.

"You too Leni? Well alright, I just hope nobody else decides to get scared and come in. My room isn't exactly designed for a slumber party," laughed Lincoln, as he helped the little one under his covers. Leni then wrapped her arms around her brother and looking at him and Luna wordlessly, her eyes seemed to say 'thank you,' as they fluttered closed. Lincoln wrapped his left arm around Leni, never letting go of Bun-Bun. He watched Luna fall back to sleep with a smile. The last thought that passed through his head before giving back into the sweet embrace of sleep was: _"I really hope Leni doesn't wet my bed."_


End file.
